Increasing trust between local politicians and citizens is one of the main goals of the Council of Europe Congress, its President, Herwig van Staa, told his audience in his opening address to the Rome conference on the fight against corruption and promoting public ethics on 27 February. The Congress had drawn up its code of conduct for elected representatives, which was being presented at the conference. Politicians had a primary role in incorporating the ethical dimension into local and regional political practice, said Mr van Staa.